King Cricket

September 27, 2017 Australia / England

England to win the Ashes via airy off-side drives

2 minute readIs that a dripping tap way off in the distance? No, it’s actually James Vince gently knocking on the door to politely request selection, if that wouldn’t be too much trouble. Quite how the selectors heard him is beyond us. Vince wasn’t thought to be good enough at the start

September 26, 2017 England

Ben Stokes makes a night in the cells happen

2 minute readThe facts are these. Splice and dice them as you see fit. The ECB say that 26-year-old Ben Stokes was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning following “an incident” in Bristol Police say a 26-year-old man was arrested that night on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm Another

September 26, 2017 County cricket

Spin bowling is abnormal – ask any county cricket supporter

2 minute readIn England, spin academies aren’t so much schools of excellence as institutions built to keep the weirdos away from the normals. Seam bowling is normal; not to be remarked upon. Spin bowling is other. If people see a lot of something, they become conditioned into thinking it’s the default. So

September 25, 2017 England / West Indies

Moeen Ali does some clean hitting

2 minute readMo mowed it. It was a day of increasing numbness to sixes and Batting Ali had the good sense to get in early when they still seemed important and the match was still in the balance. Others may have hit the ball further, but no-one lashed it quite so reliably

September 22, 2017 Extras

A cricket bat in a Danish nouveau-punk duo’s video

< 1 minute readGed writes: PowerSolo are a wild and crazy Danish nouveau-punk duo. They mostly tour around Europe, not the UK. My old friend Pinball Geoff put me onto them recently – they are even more mad than his band, the Bikini Beach Band. Short story. During the first twenty seconds of

September 21, 2017 Match report

England v South Africa at Trent Bridge – match report

2 minute readBert writes: Whenever Ged goes to the Test, he is literally sustained by a succession of culinary marvels. My test match sustenance, on the other hand, is more metaphorical than literal, being largely a succession of pointless and asinine conversations. But just as when Harry Morgan’s closes its doors for

September 20, 2017 Extras

A spider being conspicuously indifferent to cricket

< 1 minute readGed writes: This plucky fellow was observed in the Lower Compton Stand at Lord’s, very close to the historic concrete step where King Cricket demonstrated his “Real World Skills” in 2016. Perhaps this spider’s magnificent web is an arachnidian equivalent of a blue plaque, commemorating King Cricket’s astonishing feat…or merely

September 19, 2017 Match report

Cambridge University v Arabs match report

2 minute readEdwardian writes: I arrived at Fenner’s just after start of play and exchanged a ‘hello’ with an Arab in a floppy hat on the boundary. I had to bone up on Arabs before the match. The team are a wandering outfit started by E.W. (Jim) Swanton back in the frozen

September 18, 2017 Extras

Tigger being conspicuously indifferent to Toby Roland-Jones

< 1 minute readMike writes: Try as I might, I was unable to get Tigger to show the slightest interest in To-Ro-Jo’s debut destruction of the Saffer top order – in fact she positioned herself as far away as possible from the action, atop a throne of recently used but as-yet-unputaway guest bedding.

September 15, 2017 County cricket

So the County Championship’s over then

2 minute readHonestly, you take the trouble to inform people how things stand in the County Championship and the damn thing only goes and gets itself decided five minutes later. Essex won their match by an innings and let’s not bother getting too mathematical about what Lancashire would need to do to